The present invention relates generally to hand tools and more specifically to an improved tool for scraping surfaces.
A variety of hand-held scraping tools have been devised for removing a layer of undesired material from a solid, usually planar, surface. Scrapers are typically used, for example, to remove old paint from the wood or other surface to which it has been applied, or to remove paint spatters on glass.
Most presently used scrapers have a similar design. They consist of an elongate handle having a scraping edge attached to one end. The line of the scraping edge lies generally perpendicular to the lengthwise axis of the handle. These scrapers are used by sliding the scraping edge along a surface in the direction of the handle length, and may be pulled toward, or pushed away from, the user.
Such present day scrapers have several important drawbacks. In many cases, the application of high pressure to the scraping tool often causes portions of the user's hand to come into painful contact with the surface being scraped, or other nearby surfaces. Additionally, the blade of presently used scrapers is generally fixed with relation to the handle, thus making maneuverability near irregular edges and corners poor.
Another important drawback of present scraping devices is the awkward manner in which they must be held when used. Force is applied in either direction along the forearm of the user, which is aligned with the long axis of the handle. In order to grip the handle, the wrist must be bent at an awkward angle. This causes the user's wrist to tire fairly quickly when large forces are being applied to the scraper, and limits the maximum force which may be applied due to the awkwardness of the grip.
It would be desirable for a scraping device to be held by the user in such a manner that the application of pressure to the scraping edge would not be needlessly tiring or awkward. It would be further desirable that the scraping tool is fashioned in such a manner that the hand gripping the tool has minimum susceptibility to injury due to contact with various surfaces. It would also be desirable that such a scraping tool is easily used to scrape around corners, and around irregular surfaces and edges. Additionally, such a tool should be simple and inexpensive to manufacture.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the above-named and other disadvantages of present day scrapers, and to provide a tool which is comfortable and relatively non-tiring to use, which helps prevent injury to the user's hand, which maneuvers easily around irregular areas and which is inexpensive to manufacture.
In order to accomplish these and other objects, a scraping tool constructed according to the present invention includes a scraping edge which is aligned parallel to a bent handle extension (support arm) that itself is parallel to the surface to be scraped when the scraping edge is resting on the surface in a right angle relationship to the surface. The handle is angled away from the scraping edge so that when the scraping edge is in full contact with a planar surface, the handle angles away from the surface. In use, the scraping edge is pivotable, within predetermined limitations, about an axis perpendicular to the scraped surface. This pivoting movement is made relative to the handle in order to increase the maneuverability of the scraper. In a preferred embodiment, means are provided for securely coupling a detachable scraping blade to the tool to help prevent injury to the user.
The novel features which characterize the present invention are defined by the appended claims. The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear, and for purposes of illustration, but not of limitation, a preferred embodiment is shown in the accompanying drawings.